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Morgane Devaux
Morgane Devaux is a Shal'dorei arcanist and one of few Crescent Resistance figures in northern Suramar. She's served as an Arcanist to the Court of the Magistrix for longer than her close friend, Thorel Mathieu. Nauseated by the presence of demons in her city and children withering and dying for no reason but to spread fear and enforce control, Morgane, whom outwardly projects utter and complete loyalty to the Grand Magistrix, is a vital asset to the Resistance in the north, and well connected with notable figures, if much communication is via proxy. She deeply regrets having not acted when the demons first arrived, and strives to make up for it, as difficult as her enemies make it. Morgane has come under fire for refusing to undergo fel infusions, with much of her family and their political allies eagerly volunteering. Called fickle or scared at best, a traitor at worst, she initially considered taking the infusions so that none dare challenge her loyalty, thinking of access to privileged information and contacts along with a greater sense of freedom to go about her business seeking to undermine Elinsande. Morgane however decided against this course, both on account of advice by her Crescent Resistance allies and more personally, her brother, with whom she'd always been close but since his infusions the elf she knew is all but dead, with what he's become a monstrosity filled with rage, hatred and a seemingly unquenchable thirst for power. Morgane was not confident she could remain herself given what she's seen fel do to others and stated publicly that she had long served the Magistrix as an astromancer, and continuing to do so was her proper place. Most were accepting as many other loyalist spellcasters made similar decisions not to infuse, but her tact refusal was not taken well by many of those closest to her and more worrisome still, her family's allies, some of which had wholly given themselves to the felborne and actively take part in the the abduction of citizens including children, though she's unaware of the nature of the Soul Engine and that most if not all are taken there to be used as fuel. Morgane has has survived a number of assassination attempts, including an incident in which a felborne conspirator triggered a ward in her sleeping quarters, with Morgane just managing a Time Stop spell when the blade was only inches from her neck, with its vile fel energy dripping onto her sheets. Morgane is exceedingly careful about her movements, and with her magical skills, has proven a difficult target. Lacking success in slaying her, Morgane's foes instead turned to her mother, stealing the Amulet of Ky'lintha, an ornate and powerful necklace dating to Queen Azshara's era and having long stood as the regalia of her family's ancient and proud heritage. Morgane recognized the theft as an attempt to lure her from the city - her being a scryer is no secret and it didn't take much assumption to figure she'd be highly familiar with the amulet; it proved easy, too easy, for her spells to place it somewhere in Azsuna, or at least what she believed to be Azsuna, though a more precise location has proven a challenge given the distance and possibly shielding around the stolen Amulet - all in a typical situation perfectly sound reasons to investigate closer to or within Azsuna, likely just what her foes seek. Infused with the essence of the Well of Eternity and wielded by her grandmother, an Elune Priestess during the War of the Ancients, serves as the formal emblem and regalia of her household and a visible sign of both their magical strength and proud lineage. With all sentiment aside, she largely fears what horrid uses the felborne and Legion could find for an arcane object of such strength, blood that, if spilled, Morgane will view as on her hands for allowing it to fall into the hands of such evil. Having not left Suramar City in millennia, Morgane is confident the Amulet is being used to draw her out, and very much doubts her searching for it would end well. With Morgane away from sight and the relative safety of her wards and those she trusts, she expects the felborne to fall on her in ambush as rabid dogs, away from eyes and free to use overwhelming force and ruthless brutality. Additionally, efforts to organize a force and the time spent away would surely draw attention, and Morgane along with her mother have thus far kept the theft a secret. Morgane has secured everything else of magical and/or hereditary value her mother holds, if they all pale in comparison to the Amulet, but with her mother like Morgane not publicly acknowledging the theft and seeming to carry on as usual, Morgane worries greatly for the safety of her mother, whom is no spellcaster and as a scribe and harpist, cannot defend herself in any meaningful way. Her mother's guard has been increased slightly, a standard practice these days, and with the aid of the Crescent Resistance in choosing them, she has survived so far, though Morgane is deeply unsettled and must find a way to eliminate whomever is responsible for for the trouble and regain the amulet. Worries run high that if failing to do so, she and her mother will end up dead at worst, or ostracized and of little practical merit to the resistance at best. Without the magical strength of the Amulet, the respect her family name carried would lessen, and they'd both slide in standing and become targets for more nefarious characters. What Friends Are For Morgane is trusting of few these days; she maintains a channel to the major branches of the resistance but is around few she can confide in, one such elf being her childhood friend and fellow arcanist Thorel Mathieu. Both disliked the arrival of the demons but kept quiet, and both are paying for it; Thorel's father, Fourth Telemancer Kadremis Mathieu, was exiled following the coup, and Morgane's life and legacy hang each day in the balance. Chatting, seemingly laughing and being merry over a glass of arcwine, Morgane shared her dilemma with Thorel, whom agreed leaving the city was likely to end in death, though worried deeply for his friend, and perhaps then some, not to mention the destructive capability of the Amulet of Ky'lintha. Thorel was not facing such pressure to undergo fel infusion, but with his father named a traitor and exiled, retains favor on account of his talent with time magics, and must be exceedingly careful, especially with his resistance ties. Living in the middle districts, Thorel could do little practically to help, though when he was contacted by his exiled father Kadremis and eventually able to briefly speak through arcane communion as they had since long ago in happier times and a simpler world. Thorel was deeply relieved Kadremis was managing, and saw an opportunity to take meaningful action when learning of his son's Thalassian allies, outsiders though seemingly of Highborne bloodlines as themselves, among many odd outsiders spreading across the Isles since the floating city, Dalaran, appeared in the skies. From the brief arcane communication and subsequent messages delivered by proxy, Thorel learned that these Quel'dorei, a term he'd long since forgotten, seem to possess both military strength, and according to his father, skilled arcanists. Thorel was surprising his father would label an outlander as a skilled arcanist, but spoke enough with him to confirm his mind had not Withered, and putting to good use telemancy tools including warpsleeves, modulators, and beacons, setting up some sort of underground facility in Azsuna with one of the Quel'dorei. Thorel trusts his father's judgment, and also has seen fit to assure arcwine finds its way to him before speaking of the matter with Morgane. Thorel doubted a favorable response, though apparently Kadremis' Quel'dorei associate Entilzha Firesong was keen to make inroads with Nightborne opposed to the Legion alliance, and surprisingly took up the task of both retrieving the Amulet and identifying/eliminating as much of the threat to Morgane as was possible. Morgane and Thorel were both surprised by the terms in which Kadremis, whom as a spellweaver Morgane respects highly if telemancy is of no particular interest to her, spoke of an outsider's magical talent, though if of the pure blood of talented Highborne lines that seemed to have survived away from Suramar, how exactly raised a whole series of questions, but the magical prowess seemed a bit less absurd. Even if their spellwork was up to par, there was no way to know the true aims of these Quel'dorei, and if they sought the powers of the Amulet for themselves. Kadremis though spoke of owing them his life, and of their desire to show the people of Suramar their kin had not abandoned them, speaking of turning their combined might against the Legion as they had once before. Idealist, but welcome, and as difficult as it was to admit, Morgane knew such allies to be needed not only in this matter, but if there was to be any hope of stopping Elisande. Morgane and Thorel agreed to provide Firesong what information they had, and vowed to uphold their end of the bargain if the Amulet is in fact returned and using their combined extensive resistance contacts to aid the Quel'dorei with navigating Suramar's deadly political waters, discussing suitable contacts and ways they might aid, but first needing to assure their trustworthiness and capacity, also intending to, if possible, personally meet with them both to retrieve the amulet and get a sense of them. The Quel'dorei can move about freely as Shal'dorei tied to the palace cannot, and any seeking to ambush her would likely think nothing of them, if described differences in appearance are to be believed. These elven cousins can move operate militarily and magically outside of Suramar, and deep down Morgane came to see the immediate and possibly broader necessity of it, placing her trust in Kadremis' judgment and developing a spell to give to the Quel'dorei, some of whom could apparently read Shal'dorei runes. Operation: Amulet Kadremis was provided a divination spell written by Morgane based on her affinity to the Amulet of Ky'lintha, a slightly more detailed variant of the spell that had initially placed the artifact somewhere in somewhere in Azsuna. Morgane had woven every impression and interaction she could recall well enough to include into the spell, and the divination came across as a deeply personal spell as Entilzha Firesong reviewed it. The spell felt like more than a divination, with echoes of Morgane's regret and the beginnings of despair interwoven with magical details of the Amulet and how it reacted in the presence of certain forces. Having once been wielded by an Elune priestess, the spell detailed specifics of its interaction with lunar magics, which would be needed to confirm the authenticity of the Amulet when found. He immediately began translating and refining the spell from Shal'elah, his concealed magical workshop and residence in Azsuna, where Kadremis also took refuge, passing a few allies involved with the operation a simplified version of the spell focused on its arcane aura's interactions with ley energy, the unique measure by which it could be identified from some distance, at least if the amulet was half as strong as the Shal'dorei had claimed. Locating the signal in a fel-infested cavern along the eastern coast of Azsuna, Ara'lith and Firesong led a strike team, using a diversion to get the felborne to lower the ward and storming the position. Powerful arcane wards prevented much of the initial felfire, though the shield was cut through, and a fierce battle commenced. Five cages containing Shal'dorei civilians sat throughout the cave, and as the fight turned against the felborne, one of the last remaining attempted to slay and absorb the soul of a captive before being cut down. The Amulet was not present, though correspondence from a "Magistrix Bertrand" were uncovered, and suggested the nearby ruins of the Temple of a Thousand Lights. Dressing their wounds and moving to the position, the Highguard found the wicked Shal'dorei attempting to use the souls of the tormented Elune priestesses present to re-empower Elunic properties the amulet once held. This proved ineffective, though Bertrand would seriously wound two before the amulet was severed from her neck, at which point she used a brief time stop spell and escaped. Contact News of the Amulet's recovery was delivered to an anxious Morgane through Thorel, and a meeting was arranged the following day, with Morgane leaving Suramar in secret via a telemancy pad linked to the Shal'elah network. Their initial meeting was cordial, with Morgane grateful of the amulet's return, though Morgane felt strongly that her place was in Suramar and resisted attempts by Thorel, Firesong, and Ara'lith not to return and risk losing her life and the loyalists regaining the amulet. The discussion, held at a remote location in Azsuna where a temporary telemancy pad was set up, was interrupted be a felborne attack, led by Harbin, a former lover to Morgane and among the strongest, most favored among the felborne. The fight turned against Morgane and the Highguard force, and the Arcanist was able to use a brief time stop spell to enable the telemancy pad to the concealed Shal'elah. Fourth Telemancer Kadremis promptly overloaded the pad, destroying it after their arrival, to prevent Shal'elah's discovery, and hopefully with enough force to slay Harbin and his felborne henchmen, though their fate remains unverified. After the fight, and learning of ample arcwine stores, Morgane agreed to remain at Shal'elah, though adamant about continuing her work, largely via Thorel and resistance-affiliated servants. Thera-dora Command Morgane found Shal'elah's residential quarter, furnished in a similar style as a home in Suramar City, suitable, and worked diligently with Kadremis to establish contact with her allies, while her death was reported in Suramar. The civilians freed in the initial raid were also present at Shal'elah, and of the five only one had military experience, and that in the War of the Ancients. All however were horrified at how close their souls had come to becoming fuel for the Legion's machinery, a fact that enraged Morgane when she learned of it, and were willing and physically capable of being trained to fight. Without particular magical talent, though all Shal'dorei could use a number of spells, their training was to be as scouts, outrunners, and foragers, with Morgane assigned command of the growing Thera-dora. She's proven to be big on order, formality, and tidy uniforms, and though often stressed by their lack of experience, overall the Thera-dora show promise as more than just guards for Shal'elah, and Morgane is determined to turn the growing militia into a proper force with which to strike against Elisande. With a number of units nearing operational status, and contact with Shal'aran leading to more seeking training, the Thera-dora's ranks have expanded, with two junior officers, Ranger-Lieutenant Calindra Lemoine and Spellfence Captain Ky'sende, each leading their own operational groups.